Follow Me
by Anrheithwyr
Summary: Luna does what she can during the Battle of Hogwarts, hurrying around to rescue people and keep them safe.


_I was climbing, now I'm falling  
I've been pushed off by a man  
Who has made it to the top  
And now defends it 'cause he can  
And I have found a breach in his front line  
I was open, now I'm hidden  
From the danger of his words  
I have found a good option  
And I'll play for what he's worth, and he will find  
Nowhere left to hide_

_-"Battles", Hudson Taylor_

…

Luna found a girl hidden behind a bronze statue, sniffling and crying, her knuckles bloody as she tried to tuck herself behind the statue so as to remain unseen.

"Are you okay?" she asked the girl, who jumped, and turned to glance at Luna with frightened eyes. She was, at most, maybe fourteen years old, with long brown curls and skin like chocolate, her big blue eyes taking in Luna's movement.

"Is it over yet?" the girl mumbled, looking down at her shoes. "Is it over yet? Why isn't it over yet? Why isn't it over? Please, make it stop!" She was growing hysterical, the girl, and Luna moved over to comfort her, shifting so that they both were partially hidden behind the brown statue.

"Shh," Luna whispered to the girl as two heavy-footed men stomped by, eyes passing over where they were hiding like the two girls weren't even there. "Come with me, I know somewhere for you to go, okay? Somewhere where you can't get hurt, trust me. My name is Luna."

"I'm scared," the girl murmured, but she follow Luna out from behind the bronze statue so that the two were sneaking down a mostly empty, crumbling hallway, doing their best to remain unseen and silent as they moved. "I'm scared. I don't want to be here, Luna. I want to go home."

"Listen to me," Luna told the girl as they moved, ducking behind tapestries and avoiding the main staircases as Luna pulled the girl behind her, moving towards the dungeons. "They're getting the younger boys and girls out, but you have to hurry up. Head to the lower dungeons, and you'll be fine. Just…"

She paused as a bright light smashed into the staircases they were scrambling down, and Luna looked to the floor below to see a grinning woman looking back up at them.

"Where are you going, girlies?" the woman asked, raising her wand and sending another flash of red to crash against the staircases, causing the little girl to trip and fall several steps. "Running away from the battle, are we? That's not too terribly brave. Why are you running?"

Luna pushed the girl back down to the floor, though she had been trying to scramble to her feet, and the blonde Ravenclaw did her best to slip down the stairs without being seen by the yelling woman.

The staircase was constantly being blasted around them, as it seemed the Death Eater was simply throwing spells at random, most likely hoping she would just hit them eventually.

Finally, Luna and the little girl (Luna hadn't even gotten her name yet) reached the foot of the steps, and Luna gripped her hand, whispering that they were going to take a shortcut.

With all the noise and bright lights going off around them, even Luna was beginning to grow concerned as she hustled, hurrying to get this little girl to safety.

Luna hadn't been doing very much fighting, mostly just in self-defence, since the idea of striking someone down scared here.

Instead, she had been looking for younger students who had gotten caught up in the fighting, helping to redirect them towards the dungeons, sweeping them downstairs to safety.

"Hey," Luna began, turning to the girl as they ducked behind another tapestry, listening as heavy footsteps ran by. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

She was trying to distract the young teen, in order to keep her mind off all the clashing and crashing that was making Hogwarts shake.

"Kaylie," the girl whispered tentatively as they heard a voice roaring loudly, and then more sounds of things being thrown. "I'm scared, Luna. I'm scared. I want to go home. Why won't it stop? Why isn't it over yet, Luna?"

"Because I haven't gotten you to safety yet, that's why," Luna said, taking a chance, and grabbing Kaylie's hand again as they ran back towards the staircase from before, which was now almost completely damaged.

The woman from before was gone, though, and as they continued downwards towards the staircase, Luna whispered comfortingly to Kaylie, trying to keep her calm.

"Don't worry, we're almost there. You'll be fine, just keep going. Come on, just a few more floors. This way. Now here. Just a little further. Come on, you can do it, Kaylie. Follow me. Here. Turn here. Follow me. Come on. This way now. Hurry up."

Kaylie was hurrying after Luna, doing her best to avoid tripping again, as they scurried further down into the school, heading towards the dungeons, which remained mercifully secure.

As they moved, Kaylie began to whimper. The light was fading the further down they went, and though Luna had been down here several times tonight already, Kaylie was growing scared.

Luna tried to give her a comforting squeeze of the hand as they came to the very last of the dungeons, where two boys were standing, guarding the way out of the school.

"She's got to leave," Luna explained as they stares suspiciously at the now sobbing Kaylie. "She's only fourteen years old, and she has to leave. _Now._"

"Alright," said the older looking of the two boys, and held out a comforting hand to Kaylie. "Come with us, we'll keep you safe, don't worry. We'll get you home, if you just come with us now."

"Bye," Luna called as they all walked off, and Kaylie turned to wave good-bye before disappearing from sight.

Luna stood there for a moment longer in the dark, damp dungeons, saying a small prayer for the safety of the little girl that she had hurried down the stairs.

Finally, knowing that there were still more people in need of help upstairs, Luna turned to go back, fingers crossed that she could hopefully still find a staircase that wasn't so decimated that she couldn't get up to the upper floors of the school.

There was no way of knowing if Kaylie would make it out alive, or it Luna would survive the battle, but Luna knew that she had to help as much as she could, assisting where she knew she could.

Because Luna wasn't a fighter, but she was here to help, and if that meant holding the hands of scared little girls as she walked them to the dungeons, then that was what Luna would do.


End file.
